1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever fitting-type manual disconnector capable of fitting or detaching one connector housing into or out of the other connector housing by operating a lever with small control force using a cam mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electric car contains an electric power source, i.e. a battery, which has a larger capacity as compared to a battery in a usual gasoline-engine car or the like. Accordingly, in the event of maintenance of electric systems or the like, a power circuit is set open with a circuit breaker in order to secure operation safety. As illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9(1997)-265874 discloses such a related power circuit breaker.
As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, this circuit breaker 100 includes a body 101 and a detachable plug 102 disposed detachably on the body 101. The body 101 is provided with a pair of male terminals 103. One of the pair of male terminals 103 is electrically connected to a load, and the other male terminal 103 is electrically connected to a power unit via a fuse 104. A pair of perpendicular guide walls 106 each including a guide groove 105 are severally provided on outer positions of the pair of male terminals 103 of the body 101.
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4, the body 101 is provided with a lead switch 107a. A closed state or an open state of the power circuit is detected by an on-state or an off-state of the lead switch 107a. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the body 101 is provided with bolt fitting holes 108 in appropriate places. The body 101 is fixed to a fitting plane (not shown) with bolts (not shown) inserted into the bolt fitting holes 108.
The detachable plug 102 includes a control lever 110 provided with a pair of protrusions 109 on right and left side faces thereof, a plug body 112 fitted rotatably on the control lever 110 via shafts 111, and a pair of female terminals 114 fixed to the plug body 112 and electrically connected to each other with a bus bar 113. Moreover, magnets 107b are buried severally in right-and-left symmetric positions on the control lever 110.
When an operator grasps the control lever 110 of the detachable plug 102 and thereby inserts the pair of protrusions 109 into the pair of guide grooves 105 on the body 101 from the position illustrated with solid lines to the position illustrated with imaginary lines in FIG. 3, the male terminals 103 are inserted into the female terminals 114 owing to such an insertion stroke of the detachable plug 102. Due to this operation, as shown in FIG. 2, the pair of male terminals 103 are electrically connected to each other via the pair of female terminals 114 and the bus bar 113. Accordingly, the power circuit is set to a closed state. After the detachable plug 102 is inserted into the body 101, the control lever 110 is rotated with respect to the plug body 112 from the position illustrated with imaginary lines to the position illustrated with solid lines in FIG. 3, and the control lever 110 is thereby laid sideways on the body 101 as shown in FIG. 4. The magnet 107b closely faces the lead switch 107a immediately before laying the control lever 110 sideways, whereby the lead switch 107a is turned on. In this way, a closed state of the power circuit is detected electrically.
Meanwhile, in order to set this circuit to an open state, the control lever 110 laid sideways is rotated to an upright position, and the detachable plug 102 fitted to the body 101 is pulled upward from the body 101. In other words, an action reverse to the foregoing fitting action should be carried out. Then, the pair of female terminals 114 come out of the pair of male terminals 103 owing to a pulling stroke of the detachable plug 102, whereby the pair of male terminals 103 are disconnected from each other and the power circuit is set to the open state.
However, according to the related power circuit breaker 100, the power circuit is set to the closed state at the time of inserting the control lever 110 into the body 101 (in the state shown in FIG. 2). That is, although a fitting operation is completed only after the control lever 110 is laid sideways with respect to the body 101 as shown in FIG. 4, the power circuit is set to the closed state in the midst of the operation. Moreover, the lead switch 107a detects the closed state for the first time when the operation of the control lever 110 is completed. Therefore, there is a risk of misunderstanding that the power circuit still remains at the open state at the time of inserting the control lever 110 into the body 101, because the operation is not completed yet. Accordingly, it is preferable that the power circuit is set to the closed state for the first time after the operation of the control lever 110 is completed. Moreover, the power circuit is set to the open state at the time when the detachable plug 102 is pulled out of the body 101 and the pair of female terminals 114 are thereby disconnected from the pair of male terminals 103. Therefore, if the detachable plug 102 is pulled out in the state that a high voltage is applied to a load side, there is a risk of causing arc discharge.
Moreover, the above-described power circuit breaker 100 is designed such that the body 101 can be detached from the fitting plane by unfastening the bolts in the bolt inserting holes 108 of the body 101 even in the state where the control lever 110 is inserted into the body 101 and the male terminals 103 and the female terminals 114 are thereby connected to one another. Therefore, there is a problem that safety for an operator cannot be secured in the case of detaching the body 101 for the purpose of repairing or the like.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the foregoing problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a lever fitting-type manual disconnector capable of preventing a closed state of a power circuit prior to completion of an operation of a lever, and capable of surely preventing occurrence of arc discharge. In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a lever fitting-type manual disconnector, in which fixing means thereof is detachable only in an open state upon detaching the other connector housing from a fitting plane for the purpose of repairing or the like, and thereby capable of surely securing safety for an operator.
A first aspect of the present invention is a lever fitting-type manual disconnector including a first connector housing having a first terminal, a second connector housing having a second terminal for being combined with the first connector housing, a lever provided on the first connector housing, a cam groove provided on the lever, a cam pin provided on the second connector housing for being engaged with the cam groove, and a fitting-state detective switch for detecting a fitting-state of the connector housings. Here, the lever is rotated while the cam pin is engaged with the cam groove to establish a rotation completive position, in which the terminals on the both connector housings contact to each other. Then, the lever is moved linearly from the foregoing position to establish a fitting completive position, in which the fitting-state detective switch is turned on. Further, the lever is moved linearly from the fitting completive position reverse to the foregoing linear direction to establish the rotation completive position, in which the fitting-state detective switch is turned off. Then, the lever is rotated from the rotation completive position reverse to the foregoing rotational direction to establish an unconnected state of the terminals by detaching the both connector housings. Moreover, a circuit to be turned on and off by the fitting-state detective switch, and a power switch composed of the respective terminals on the both connector housings are interposed in a power circuit in series connection.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, in this lever fitting-type manual disconnector, the terminals on the both connector housings are set to a connected state in the process of rotating the lever from a rotation initial position to the rotation completive position, whereby the power switch is turned on. However, the power circuit remains at the open state at this stage. The fitting-state detective switch is turned on in the process of moving the lever linearly from the rotation completive position to the fitting completive position, whereby the circuit is turned on and the power circuit is set to the closed state for the first time. Moreover, in the event of changing the power circuit from the closed state to the open state, the fitting-state detective switch is turned off in the process of moving the lever linearly from the fitting completive position to the rotation completive position. Accordingly, the circuit is turned off and the power circuit is thereby set to the open state, and the power switch composed of the terminals on the both connector housings is set to a detached state in the process of rotating the lever from the rotation completive position to the rotation initial position. Therefore, there is a time-lag between the time when the power circuit is turned off and the time when the power switch composed of the terminals is detached, whereby time for discharge is secured.
Meanwhile, a second aspect of the present invention is a lever fitting-type manual disconnector including terminals severally provided on first and second connector housings for being connected and unconnected by approaching and detaching movements, a lever provided movably on the first the connector housing, a cam groove provided on any one of the lever and the second connector housing, a cam pin provided on the other one of the lever and the second connector housing for being engaged with the cam groove. Here, when the lever is moved in a state that the cam pin is engaged with the cam groove, the first connector housing approaches the second connector housing owing to the cam pin being guided by the cam groove, and the terminals on the both connector housings contact to each other. Moreover, the movements of the lever includes a rotational movement between a rotation initial position and a rotation completive position where the terminals on the both connector housings are connected and unconnected, and a linear movement between the rotation completive position and a fitting completive position where a fitting-state detective switch is turned on and off. Furthermore, a relay circuit to be turned on and off by the fitting-state detective switch, and a power switch composed of the respective terminals on the both connector housings are interposed in a power circuit in series connection.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in this lever fitting-type manual disconnector, the second connector housing is detachable only when the first connector housing is detached from the second connector housing or when the lever is set to the rotation initial position. In this way, safety for an operator is sufficiently secured in the case of detaching the second connector housing from a fitting plane for the purpose of repairing the breaker, which is designed to disconnect the power circuit by operating the lever in accordance with the rotational movement and the linear movement.